I thought a little National Debt lesson might be helpful in understanding the sustainability of our economic path. I will list the time frame it took to reach each $1 trillion increment of our $16.3 trillion national debt:
$1 trillion – October 1981 – 192 years after the country was formed
$2 trillion – April 1986 – 4 years and 6 months
$3 trillion – February 1990 – 3 years and 10 months
$4 trillion – July 1992 – 2 years and 5 months
$5 trillion – February 1996 – 3 years and 7 months
$6 trillion – March 2002 – 6 years and 1 month
$7 trillion – January 2004 – 1 year and 10 months
$8 trillion – October 2005 – 1 year and 9 months
$9 trillion – August 2007 – 1 year and 10 months
$10 trillion – September 2008 – 1 year and 1 month
$11 trillion – March 2009 – 6 months
$12 trillion – November 2009 – 8 months
$13 trillion – June 2010 – 7 months
$14 trillion – December 2010 – 6 months
$15 trillion – November 2011 – 11 months
$16 trillion – August 2012 – 9 months
Things seemed to be moving in the right direction until Bush. Obama has pushed the pedal to the floorboard. I wonder what happens next.
Eddie says:
Paraphrasing Everett Dirksen:
A trillion here and a trillion there, and pretty soon you’re talking some real money.
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5th November 2012 at 11:44 am
Wyoming Mike says:
Romney will save us. He will conquer the middle East and gas will be 75 cents a gallon!!!
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5th November 2012 at 11:45 am
Stan says:
How the hell can romney save us when he is gonna lose?
Barack Obama will save us.
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5th November 2012 at 1:04 pm
Stan says:
Stan . O’ yea of little faith.
I’ve told you before, Romney is has the ass packing of America wrapped up.
Don’t fret about it.
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5th November 2012 at 1:10 pm
Davos says:
LOL, can we imagine adding in the off balance sheet debt, SS $16 trillion, Prescription Drugs $21 trillion, Medicare $84 trillion…
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5th November 2012 at 1:21 pm
Stan says:
Tomorrow is gonna be a BEE autiful day!!! I can’t wait
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5th November 2012 at 1:57 pm
Kill Bill says:
Good thing all that money is backed by nothing.
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5th November 2012 at 3:17 pm
Anonymous says:
Mitt Romney has become the first major presidential candidate to turn down the Presidential Youth Debate since it began in 1996, according to its organizers.
~~~~~
Romney to millennials – Piss off.
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5th November 2012 at 3:19 pm
Kill Bill says:
Kill Bill above.
So me bad.
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5th November 2012 at 3:20 pm
Celtic Tiger says:
Hey, the last couple trillion took a couple more months each. We’re saved!
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5th November 2012 at 5:32 pm
Bob says:
When the time comes, I hope we are all still around for Admin to post the ‘debt resolution schedule’. It probably won’t have very many entries, but it may well be written in blood.
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5th November 2012 at 5:33 pm
Mikey says:
@Davos
This is one thing that annoys me about you Americans that are against SS on principle. You don’t check the facts. Your Federal SS is 100% self funded. Between 1983 and 2010 (when they had their income reduced by either Congress or the House of Reps – not sure which, and the non-funded Medicare added to the system) the financial reserves it has is actually growing faster than inflation.
That money was taken from SS and added to General Revenue, where it was pissed against a wall.
link to the facts – http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html
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5th November 2012 at 5:54 pm
Llpoh says:
Mikey – do not be a dolt. Fully funded is different to cashflow. There is sufficient cashflow, for now. But it is far from fully funded, which means everyone puts in enough to match their drawings. If it were a business it would be declared bankrupt. It is a Ponzi scheme.
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5th November 2012 at 6:06 pm
Mikey says:
@Llpoh – name one goverment run thing that’s not like that! That’s how government works! The few, rare times that some scheme or department is set up with sufficient reserves to fund it indefinately, one or at most two changes of goverment later, those reserves are pulled to fund some pre-election stunt or another.
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5th November 2012 at 6:11 pm
Llpoh says:
That I agree with.
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5th November 2012 at 6:18 pm
Mikey says:
You’ll never lose money betting on “lazy, stupid, short-sighted and self-interested” politicians over “wise, forward-thinking, pain in the short term for benefit in the long term” politicians
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5th November 2012 at 6:24 pm
Muck About says:
We are totally finished – regardless. The only question is , “How long?”.
Better to be prepared two years early than 1 minute late.
MA
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5th November 2012 at 6:33 pm
Administrator says:
‘How did you go bankrupt?’ Bill asked.
‘Two ways,’ Mike said. ‘Gradually and then suddenly.’
Ernest Hemingway – The Sun Also Rises
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5th November 2012 at 7:25 pm
napari says:
as a country were finished. the 1st republic is already dead. what remains to be seen is if we have the moxie to raise the 2nd republic out of the ruins. “the rule of law” must be reapplied across the board with zero favoritism. if your uncle or inlaw does wrong punishment must be administered according to the law. NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTTS!
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5th November 2012 at 7:40 pm
todd says:
Mikey,
My problem with SS is that it was/is sold as retirement insurance. It is nothing of the sort. I can’t forward my payments to a beneficiary upon my death, money I “paid” goes back into the pot. It would be of greater benefit if government forced every citizen for the first 3-5 years of earning wages to prove they bought a CD for retirement (Not that I agree with the government doing that either). CDs bought on the open market valued at 6-10k by someone between the ages of 16 and 21 that retires at 65 would be worth more than SS could ever provide and the money would be owned by the citizen. Magic of compounding interest. Instead we pay for bureaucratic overhead and there is no promise of even getting the money out of the system when we retire.
As far as being 100% self funded in case you weren’t aware our demographics are changing and the whole system will collapse when there are no longer enough putting in to support those taking out. Ponzi schemes depend on new payees at the bottom so how does SS differ? When it was established it worked fine you had 159 workers per retiree now you have 2.9. Unless the generation of my children have some kind of baby boom real soon I can expect far less return than was extracted from me.
As to your point on its(SS) “growing faster than inflation”. Who’s inflation numbers are you looking at for reference? The same government numbers that weights the numbers by substitution… steak cost too much we’ll use the price of dog food instead for our inflation factors. Maybe you missed the thread on government numbers being completely worthless. Try shadowstats, real inflation is running somewhere near 6% vs the lies the feds give us.
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5th November 2012 at 8:16 pm
todd says:
Previous assumptions on a CD valuation would be with a government that allows for a sound money system and not the bullshit one we have now.
I am paraphrasing but I heard Greenspan say once we can always provide the dollars promised in the SS system but can’t promise what those dollars would be able to purchase.
I give the government dollars with a specific present day value and in return I get what? Something worth more for my “savings” I don’t think so.
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5th November 2012 at 8:22 pm
Dave Doe says:
The ultimate end of the entitlements and the entire fiat regime is loss of confidence in the currency. It is accelerating and will provide the “then suddenly”. Hard to see anyone turning back the momentum now.
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5th November 2012 at 8:55 pm
Davos says:
Here’s some totally fucked accounting Bitchez:
TOTAL SPENDING $3.603 trillion
2011 Federal Government’s spending: $3,603,000,000,000.00 (3.603 trillion)
There are a million “millions” in a trillion or 1,000 millions in a billion and 1,000 billions in a trillion. If you spent 1 million a day since 1AD you’d have not spent a trillion.
Federal spending is breaks out into 3 key areas: Mandatory programs, Interest & Discretionary Spending.
MANDATORY SPENDING $2.073 Trillion FY2011
Entitlements:
Social Security…………………………………………………………………………$726 billion
Medicare……………………………………………………………………………………$480 billion
Medicaid……………………………………………………………………………………$275 billion
TARP & Other mandatory programs…………………………………….$631 billion
Total………………………………………………………………………………………….$2,073 trillion
2011 Other Mandatory Spending includes: Food Stamps (47 million recipients) Unemployment Benefits (22.8% unemployment rate), Child Nutrition Student Loans, Disability and Tax Credits.
INTEREST ON FEDERAL DEBT $230 billion
Interest:…………………………………………………………………………………..$230 billion
DISCRETIONARY SPENDING $1.3 trillion
Must be approved by Congress each year, breaks out into 2 key areas: Security related Military Foreign Aid, Veteran Services and non-security related (What we think of when we think of the government, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Justice, State, Energy Treasury, Interior, Transportation, HHS, HUD, etc.)
Security:…………………………………………………………………………………..$700 billion
Nonsecurity……………………………………………………………………………..$462 billion
Total……………………………………………………………………………………….$1,300 trillion
GOVERNMENT INCOME TOTAL RECEIPTS $2.303 Trillion
Income (Government Revenues): $2,303,000,000,000.00 (2.303 trillion)
Mandatory Programs……………………………………………………………….$2.073 trillion
Interest……………………………………………………………………………………….$ 230 billion
Discretionary Spending…………………………………………………………..$1,300 trillion
Total……………………………………………………………………………………………$3.603 trillion
Government “Balance” Sheet
Income………………………………………………………………………………………..$2.303 trillion
Total Spending………………………………………………………………………….$3.603 trillion
DEFICIT………………………………………………………………………………………$1.300 trillion
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5th November 2012 at 9:07 pm
Ron says:
It depends on how high the amount can go?Who do we owe this money to?What well happen when we dont pay it?
Ive got my camping gear, some beans and a shotgun,so bring it on!
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5th November 2012 at 11:11 am